E R M A N T L E

LOW
SUBMITTED BY: JAYNIL B. ARTIAGA
PROPERTIES
• THE LOWER MANTLE ACCOUNTS FOR
NEARLY HALF OF THE MASS OF THE
EARTH. IT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED THAT
ITS MINERALOGY MOSTLY CONSISTS OF
MAGNESIUM SILICATE PEROVSKITE
(MG,FE,AL)(SI,AL)O3, MAGNESIOWUSTITE
(MG,FE)O, AND CALCIUM SILICATE
PEROVSKITE CASIO3 (E.G. IRIFUNE 1994;
KESSON ET. AL. 1998).
HOW WERE SCIENTISTS ABLE TO DETERMINE THESE PROPERTIES?
WHAT WERE THE EVIDENCES THAT HELPED THEM ARRIVE TO THEIR
CONCLUSIONS?
 XENOLITHS

MANY GEOLOGISTS STUDY THE MANTLE BY

ANALYZING XENOLITHS. XENOLITHS ARE A
TYPE OF INTRUSION—A ROCK TRAPPED
INSIDE ANOTHER ROCK.
XENOLITH STUDIES HAVE REVEALED THAT
ROCKS IN THE DEEP MANTLE ARE MOST LIKELY
3-BILLION-YEAR OLD SLABS OF SUBDUCTED
SEAFLOOR. THE DIAMOND INTRUSIONS
INCLUDE WATER, OCEAN SEDIMENTS, AND
EVEN CARBON. 
EVIDENCE:
• THE XENOLITHS THAT PROVIDE THE MOST INFORMATION ABOUT THE MANTLE ARE DIAMONDS.
DIAMONDS FORM UNDER VERY UNIQUE CONDITIONS: IN THE UPPER MANTLE, AT LEAST 150 KILOMETERS
(93 MILES) BENEATH THE SURFACE. ABOVE DEPTH AND PRESSURE, THE CARBON CRYSTALLIZES AS
GRAPHITE, NOT DIAMOND. DIAMONDS ARE BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE IN EXPLOSIVE VOLCANIC
ERUPTIONS, FORMING “DIAMOND PIPES” OF ROCKS CALLED KIMBERLITES AND LAMPROLITES.

• THE DIAMONDS THEMSELVES ARE OF LESS INTEREST TO GEOLOGISTS THAN THE XENOLITHS SOME
CONTAIN. THESE INTRUSIONS ARE MINERALS FROM THE MANTLE, TRAPPED INSIDE THE ROCK-HARD
DIAMOND. DIAMOND INTRUSIONS HAVE ALLOWED SCIENTISTS TO GLIMPSE AS FAR AS 700 KILOMETERS
(435 MILES) BENEATH EARTH’S SURFACE—THE LOWER MANTLE.

• XENOLITH STUDIES HAVE REVEALED THAT ROCKS IN THE DEEP MANTLE ARE MOST LIKELY 3-BILLION-YEAR
OLD SLABS OF SUBDUCTED SEAFLOOR. THE DIAMOND INTRUSIONS INCLUDE WATER, OCEAN SEDIMENTS,
AND EVEN CARBON. 
 SEISMIC WAVES

MOST MANTLE STUDIES ARE CONDUCTED BY

MEASURING THE SPREAD OF SHOCK WAVES
FROM EARTHQUAKES, CALLED SEISMIC
WAVES. THE SEISMIC WAVES MEASURED IN
MANTLE STUDIES ARE CALLED BODY WAVES,
BECAUSE THESE WAVES TRAVEL THROUGH
THE BODY OF THE EARTH. THE VELOCITY OF
BODY WAVES DIFFERS WITH DENSITY,
TEMPERATURE, AND TYPE OF ROCK.
 
EVIDENCE:
• INSTRUMENTS PLACED AROUND THE WORLD MEASURE THESE WAVES AS THEY ARRIVE AT
DIFFERENT POINTS ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE. P-WAVES (PRIMARY
WAVES) USUALLY ARRIVE FIRST, WHILE S-WAVES ARRIVE SOON AFTER. BOTH BODY WAVES
“REFLECT” OFF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROCKS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THIS ALLOWS SEISMOLOGISTS
TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT ROCKS PRESENT IN EARTH’S CRUST AND MANTLE FAR BENEATH THE
SURFACE. SEISMIC REFLECTIONS, FOR INSTANCE, ARE USED TO IDENTIFY HIDDEN OIL DEPOSITS
DEEP BELOW THE SURFACE.
 MANTLE MAPS

CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED

MODERN GEOLOGISTS AND SEISMOLOGISTS
TO PRODUCE MANTLE MAPS. MOST MANTLE
MAPS DISPLAY SEISMIC VELOCITIES,
REVEALING PATTERNS DEEP BELOW EARTH’S
SURFACE.
EVIDENCE:
• SUDDEN, PREDICTABLE CHANGES IN THE VELOCITIES OF BODY WAVES ARE CALLED “SEISMIC
DISCONTINUITIES.” THE MOHO IS A DISCONTINUITY MARKING THE BOUNDARY OF THE CRUST AND
UPPER MANTLE. THE SO-CALLED “410-KILOMETER DISCONTINUITY” MARKS THE BOUNDARY OF THE
TRANSITION ZONE. 

• THE GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY IS MORE POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY

(CMB). AT THE CMB, S-WAVES, WHICH CAN’T CONTINUE IN LIQUID, SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR, AND P-
WAVES ARE STRONGLY REFRACTED, OR BENT. THIS ALERTS SEISMOLOGISTS THAT THE SOLID AND
MOLTEN STRUCTURE OF THE MANTLE HAS GIVEN WAY TO THE FIERY LIQUID OF THE OUTER CORE.
IMPORTANCE:
•RESPONSIBLE FOR TECTONIC PLATE MOVEMENT THROUGH
CONVECTION CURRENT
SOURCE:

• HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.ORG/ENCYCLOPEDIA/MANTLE/
• HTTPS://WWW.E-EDUCATION.PSU.EDU/EARTH520/CONTENT/L4_P3.HTML
• HTTPS://WWW.BRITANNICA.COM/PLACE/EARTH/THE-INTERIOR#REF514525